Soul Mates
by raeganb123
Summary: On the day you turned 10, you were visited by someone called the Matchmaker. The Matchmaker told you the name of your soul mate. You were told the name of the person you were destined to be with. Thanks to my wonderful Beta, Tinian I'att!
1. Chapter 1: Snow

**Thank you to my Beta, Tinian I'att, for all of their hard work, and for editing this story! It means a lot! :) Disclaimer- I do not own Once Upon a Time.**

**Soul Mates**

**Snow White**

All Snow White wanted to do on her 10th birthday was celebrate. All anybody else wanted to do was keep reminding her that today she would find out the name of her soul mate.

Snow thought that 10 was a very young age to learn with whom you would spend the rest of your life. She didn't even believe in soul mates! Besides, having someone tell you whom you were destined to end up with would take away the fun and mystery of finding out for yourself. Why couldn't people choose whom they wanted to be with, instead of having some stranger give them the name of the person with whom they would supposedly spend the rest of their life? She just couldn't quite process why anyone would want to find the love of their life like that.

Of course, she was the oddball. All the other girls called the Matchmaker telling them the name of the person they'd marry romantic. They thought it was the most important day of your life.

Snow was the only one who disagreed.

On her 10th birthday, her parents told her to wait in the living room while they escorted the Matchmaker to her. They would be present when she learned the name of her soul mate. She kept biting her nails, anxiously awaiting the dreaded encounter.

The door slowly swung open, revealing an elderly lady, dressed in fine linen, with extremely light green eyes that seemed to stare into her soul. She wondered if they did.

The Matchmaker sat across from her, and just stared. She held her wrinkly and veiny hand out toward Snow, awaiting her reaction. Snow slowly set her tiny hand into the woman's larger one. The Matchmaker never took her eyes off Snow. Her parents stood in the doorway, nervously watching the encounter.

The Matchmaker then said one word. "James." It was one word, just one, without even a last name. It left her entirely confused.

"Does he not have a last name to accompany his first?" Snow asked.

The Matchmaker's eyes twinkled with a hidden secret. "That, my dear, is for you to find out on your own."

Snow's parents interrupted. "Well thank you for coming Madame Matchmaker. We appreciate your help." The Matchmaker nodded toward her parents, gave her a little smile, and swept out of the room, her linen skirt flowing behind her.

"James," Snow whispered in awe.

**A/N- Please give feedback! Also, who would you like me to do next? This is more of a prompt story than anything else. The first review, as long as I know who they end up with, will be the next chapter! Thanks for reading! :)**


	2. Chapter 2: James

**Sorry it took forever, but I've gotten two more chapters done for my other story, I Did NOT See That Coming, and I've been focusing on that lately. Don't worry, though, I'm back! :) Thanks to my beta, Tinian I'att, for helping me! :)**

**Chapter 2: James (Prince Charming)**

It was finally time James was going to meet the Matchmaker in his tiny little house on their tiny little farm. How embarrassing, but he always felt embarrassed when anyone came to their house and saw the tiny thing sitting in the middle of the equally tiny farm. Rusty hinges and falling-apart bricks, the works.

He sat in the old armchair in the living room, waiting for the famous old lady called the Matchmaker. The rumors said she could see into your soul and find your better half, and even see what kind of future you would have together. He hoped his better half was a lady of wealth, someone who would make him, his mother, and his father happy. If her dowry was high enough, it could save his family from poverty.

He pictured his better half in his mind. Would she be tall, like him or would she be short? Would she have blonde hair, red hair or maybe be a brunette? Perhaps she even had black hair. Would her eyes be brown, blue, or green? Would her hair be long or short? Would her skin be pale or tan?

He couldn't decide. He couldn't picture her at all.

He was thinking so deeply that he didn't notice the woman standing in the doorway. He whipped his head up when he heard her clear her throat.

"Are you James?" the woman asked.

"Yes. Are you the Matchmaker?"

"Yes child, I am. You have quite a cute home, I must say, quaint, actually."

_Lies_, he thought. She was mocking him for sure.

"Shall we proceed?" asked the mysterious Matchmaker.

He nodded. She drew up her fine linen skirt that probably cost more than his house, and sat down in the chair opposite him.

He lowered his head, looking at the ground. "For this to work," she said politely, "I need you to be looking at me." He raised his head slowly. When his eyes met hers, he couldn't look away. She had soft green eyes that saw right through him. He felt exposed.

"Ah, I see. You have terrible times ahead, my dear. Forces will separate you from your love and make you to forget each other. Your relationship will be a hard one to bear, I'm afraid. But I see that it shall work out in the end, as true love always does."

"And what is this woman's name? I should at least be able to know her name, shouldn't I?"

"Her name is Snow." With that, she left the room directing a smile at him.

"Snow," he whispered, enjoying the feel of her name on his lips.

Then, for the first time that day, he smiled.


	3. Chapter 3: Ella

**Thanks to Tinian I'att for being my beta and to all the readers, reviewers, and everyone who added this story to their favorites or alerts! It means a lot, and I hope you keep reading!**

**Disclaimer- I do not own Once Upon A Time.**

**Ella**

Scrubbing, dusting, cleaning the fireplace. It was always the same routine for poor, little Ella, or Cinderella as her family called her. Who cared if it was her 10th birthday? Certainly not her stepmother and she doubted her stepsisters even knew when her birthday was. Why couldn't she be a normal girl, someone who didn't spend her short life cleaning ash-filled fireplaces and secretly watching the fireworks from her dirty window at night? She doubted any other girls her age went through the same treatment she did.

Her beloved father had passed away two years before, leaving her in the care, if you could even call it that, of her stepmother. Why couldn't her father still be here with her? He'd stop the cruel treatment if he was here, but of course, he wasn't. He had left her, just like everybody else. After her rich father died, and she became a maid, no one looked at her the same way. Always discreet glances out of the corners of watchful eyes, following her every move. Nobody would talk to her, either. They didn't want anyone to see them with a servant girl. She was the rightful heir to her father's fortune, but her stepmother didn't care. Since he wasn't here to testify that everything belonged to Ella, her stepmother did as she pleased and stole all of Ella's possessions.

Ella had developed low self-esteem because of the way she was treated. Why couldn't she be pretty or smart? Everyone loved pretty girls and respected smart ones. She wasn't even a good hostess. She was just a good for nothing maid, like her stepmother said. Why couldn't she do anything right? Her stepmother disapproved of every little thing she did.

There was a quiet and gentle knock on the door. Ella brushed the cinders off her clothes, trying to look presentable, and hurriedly rushed to the greeting room where the front door was located. She gently eased open the large and noisy door, and poked her head around the corner to see who the visitor was.

She was in awe of her beauty. She was an older lady, with graying brown hair, a few wrinkles, and veiny hands, but she was the picturesque image of what many older people wanted to look like. The perfect mix of old and young, balled up into one.

The lady asked kindly, "Is the mistress of the house home? I have come to speak with her on an urgent matter pertaining to my business."

"Of course," Ella squeaked. "Right this way, madam." Ella rang the bell, indicating that someone had come to speak to her stepmother.

"Good heavens! I wasn't expecting company today!" her stepmother's falsely cheery voice echoed down the grand hallway leading toward her extravagant bedroom.

The kind old lady responded in an impatient voice, "I have come to seek the mistress of this house so that I might learn why she neither requested my presence nor allowed me to perform those tasks which pertain to my job." Her soft green eyes hardened to look like dark emeralds as she stared at Ella's stepmother.

"I honestly have no idea what you're talking about. My daughters are not turning 10 until next month, so we have no need of your services."

"Are you sure about that? I seem to recall that you have a stepdaughter who is celebrating her 10th birthday today." At this, Ella's stepmother flicked her eyes over to glance at Ella, who was staring at the lady in shock. "So again I ask you, why did you not summon me?"

"I must have forgotten, silly me, forgetting something as important as Ella's 10th birthday." Her smile was wide and convincing, but her cold eyes gave her away. She despised her deceased husband's daughter with vigor.

"That is not something that somebody easily forgets, though, is it?" queried the old lady whose name Ella still didn't know. As if she was reading Ella's mind, she answered her unspoken question, "I am the Matchmaker, but you can call me Em. Matchmaker is quite a long title, don't you agree? I prefer Em to such a silly name as Matchmaker. Tell me child, do you have any nicknames?"

Ella's head drooped, and she whispered, "Cinderella, because of the cinders on my clothes from cleaning the fireplace."

"This is how you treat children, giving them difficult chores and cruel names? What kind of mother are you?" the Matchmaker shrieked in outrage.

"I am not that scrawny freak's mother. I am just the poor woman who got stuck with caring for her."

"Do not pity yourself. It shows how ugly your soul is. After your soul mate died, you convinced a grieving widower to marry you. That is not how things are supposed to be. You are destined to be with one person. You do not marry another if that one dies! In doing so you show disrespect for my practices, and I will not stand for it. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a child to attend to."

Ella's stepmother glared at the Matchmaker and responded in a sickly sweet voice, "Of course I'll leave you be, for now. I expect you to be gone in a half hour."

"Of course," the Matchmaker responded stiffly.

When her stepmother left the room, it seemed as if someone had lifted a weight off the Matchmaker's shoulders. "That woman ruined her life when she married your father. Promise me that if your soul mate dies, you will not marry someone else. You were not meant to be with another person, all right?"

"I understand," responded 10-year-old Ella.

The Matchmaker reached out her hand, and indicated that Ella should grasp it. Ella reached out her tiny, grimy hand and placed it in the old and gentle hand of the Matchmaker.

"Oh, another sad story, but everything will be all right in the end. You will believe that your soul mate has died, but he doesn't. Then you will forget about each other, but in the end you will be reunited with him because true love conquers even the toughest problems."

"My stepmother will never allow me to marry. She doesn't believe that I am worthy of any man and she wouldn't pay a dowry for me to be married either. She just wants me as her servant for the rest of my life."

"Trust me, little one. It will work out in the end. Even if you want to give up, you can't. It's the only way for true love to conquer all. Understand?"

Ella bobbed her head up and down. "What is the name of the boy I should marry?"

"Not should, dear. You must never use should in the same sentence as marriage or love. Instead, ask who is the one that I'm destined to marry. Okay?"

Ella nodded again, making her blonde hair fly about her head.

"His name," Em continued, "is Thomas."

"That's a lovely name," responded Ella. "It's not boring like my name. There are so many girls named Ella. Why couldn't my name be original?"

"Oh, my dear, trust me. No one will ever forget your name. You will be remembered in history as one of the main characters in one of the greatest love stories ever told."

"What if Thomas' and my relationship doesn't work out in the end?"

"Trust me my dear, it will. Well, I should get going before your stepmother returns and gives you an even greater punishment. I hope I don't cause you too much trouble."

"It was worth it," was Ella's response.

As Em was walking away, Ella called out, "Good-bye Em! Thank you for everything!" and closed the front door.

Even though she had to work even harder, and had more chores to complete, she believed it was all worth it, to hear Thomas' name. "Thomas will rescue me from this wretched life and make all the pain go away. He will be my knight in shining armor!" she repeated to herself like a mantra.

She pictured a knight, but received a prince and she couldn't be happier.

**This is the longest one yet! I doubt any of them will get longer than this. I was thinking of doing a Prince Thomas chapter next. What do you guys think? I also plan to do a Regina chapter later, so watch out for that one! Also, who else is excited for Sunday's episode because I am pumped! Review, please! :)**


	4. Chapter 4: Thomas

**Thanks to my beta, Tinian I'att!**

**Disclaimer-I do not own Once Upon A Time.**

**Thomas**

There was a large celebration going on at the palace. Fireworks, dancing, and food of many kinds, all for a 10-year-old prince named Thomas. He didn't understand why everybody was celebrating. He wasn't becoming a man, he wasn't getting married, and he most certainly had not just return from an epic and difficult battle, but celebrate they did.

He met young princesses and danced with them, and he hung out with some of the other young princes that attended the party. After he finished dancing with a princess, he would kiss her knuckles in the gentlemanly fashion that he'd seen his father use countless times. Most of them blushed and giggled, while a few smiled at him, curtsied, and kissed him on the cheek, which made him blush.

However, the most exciting part of his birthday happened after the party had ended.

It was nearing his curfew when there was a gentle knock on his door.

"Who's there?" asked Thomas, grabbing the dagger he kept hidden in his drawer.

"It is your father with company, so please child open the door!"

"Coming Father!" shouted Thomas, running for the door.

As the door swung open, Thomas' father stepped into the room, holding the door for the woman who was standing there. She glided gracefully into the room.

"I am sorry to disturb you, dear Prince Thomas," she said, "but your father insisted."

"It could not wait another day! Son, I would like you to meet the Matchmaker."

Thomas gasped. "You are the Matchmaker?" She nodded at the flabbergasted boy.

"Yes, I am the Matchmaker." She smiled kindly at him.

A gentle breeze blew in from Thomas' open window and made the Matchmaker's graying hair fly about her head. She laughed and tried to fix it.

Thomas then clumsily and hastily bowed to the Matchmaker. She laughed and lifted his chin so that he was standing at his full height again. "Silly boy, I am not royalty. I should be bowing to you, not the other way around."

"Shall we sit?" asked the king.

Thomas sat in a cushioned chair, while his father chose to sit on Thomas' bed. Thomas gestured for the Matchmaker to sit in the wicker chair facing him and she gracefully glided into it. Then she straightened her wrinkled skirt and crossed her legs.

Thomas' father seemed to be overexcited, with his hands twitching, and his foot bouncing against his leg.

The Matchmaker gestured for Thomas to take her hand. Thomas gulped and placed his small, calloused hand into her large and gentle one. She smiled encouragingly, which made him relax.

Her green eyes looked into his blue ones and held his gaze. He couldn't look away, he couldn't look anywhere but the Matchmaker's eyes. In her green eyes, he saw visions. He saw a glass slipper tinkling as it fell down a stone staircase and then he saw a large clock striking 12. He felt as though these pictures were important, but couldn't understand how. It was only a clock and a glass shoe.

The Matchmaker's hand twitched, pulling him out of his fantasy. She smiled and whispered softly, "Ella. You have tough times ahead my dear, but you will win. Do not worry."

Who was Ella? He looked at his father only to see the same look gracing his features as well. His father shouted, "We must search for this Ella at once! We must find this young lady who is destined to marry my Thomas and give us an heir!"

The Matchmaker shook her head. "I'm sorry sire, but that is not possible. Fate has already chosen when and how Thomas will meet Ella. There is no way that you can find her until Fate allows it."

A frown tugged down on Thomas' and the king's faces.

The king finished the conversation with, "Thank you for your time, dear Matchmaker."

She nodded, gave a fleeting smile to Thomas, and headed out the door, her white linen skirt billowing out behind her.

That night, Thomas' dreams were full of visions of glass slippers, clocks, and a white ball gown.

He woke up with a single thought.

Why were these things so important?


	5. Chapter 5: Evil Queen

**Thank you Tinian I'att for all the help you've given me! I couldn't do it without you! Also, I looked it up on Google, and the Evil Queen's name in the fairy tale Snow White is Grimhilde. No wonder she's so bitter, with a name like that!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Once Upon a Time.**

**Evil Queen**

"Come along, my dear friend! We must celebrate my 10th birthday!" shouted Grimhilde, beckoning for the little black raven to follow her.

They made their way through the woods near the estate where she lived. Her family were nobles, which meant that they spoiled her. Sadly, the other young girls found her intimidating and scary, so they left her alone. Grimhilde's only friends were animals.

She had been walking along the wooded path, preparing to celebrate her 10th birthday alone, when a pathetic looking, underweight raven landed on a branch just above her head. The raven allowed her to stroke him then, started following her as she made her way deeper into the woods.

She had tied up her black hair to keep any branches or plants that resided in the wooded area from catching it. The bird flapped around her, content to follow the girl, instead of leading.

"We are almost there, dear Raven! Do not worry! You may rest on my shoulder if you start to become tired," Grimhilde offered.

As if it understood her, the bird perched on her shoulder for the rest of the walk. "There it is!" shouted Grimhilde, startling the sleeping bird. "Oh, you must come see how beautiful the meadow is, Raven. It has spots of light shining down every few feet, separated by the shadows that the tall trees make, and there is foliage everywhere you look, all bright green with dew dripping off it. It is a place where anyone could picture a beautiful creature, such as you, flying about the treetops."

For most of the afternoon, Grimhilde played with Raven in the shaded meadow. They darted in and out of the lighted spots, and rested on the dewy grass or tree stumps when they became tired. Many animals came to watch them enjoying their celebration. Birds, squirrels, and rabbits were all curious about the strange duo, a human girl, and a raven playing. It was perhaps the oddest sight the small creatures had ever seen. Most humans wanted to slaughter animals and use them for food, but this child was different. At different intervals, the girl stroked the raven reverently, as if she could not believe that it wanted any part in her celebration, but sadly, dusk set in, so the duo bid each other goodbye and went their separate ways.

When Grimhilde returned to the estate, her father was waiting at the front door. "I'm sorry to keep you waiting father, I was busy celebrating my birthday."

"If you had reminded me that it was your birthday, my dear little queen, I would have been delighted to celebrate with you." Queen was his nickname for Grimhilde, because of the way she carried herself and sought respect from others.

"But Father, just yesterday you told me that today was to be a busy day, and that you could not be disturbed," Grimhilde replied with a frown.

"Let's put this behind us, shall we, my love? You have company."

Grimhilde's face lit up with excitement. "Who has come to visit me Father? Is it someone important, maybe from the palace?"

"Not from the palace, but she is very important. She is called the Matchmaker," he replied. Grimhilde's face lit up with recognition.

"Yes I am the Matchmaker. Now please Henry, quit teasing the girl and let us talk."

"Of course, Em, come let us sit in the drawing room, away from the servants."

After they had seated themselves comfortably, the Matchmaker explained herself to Grimhilde. "Now Grimhilde, as you know, I am the Matchmaker, but not many people know what exactly my work involves. First, I hold hands with the 10-year-old that I am working with at that moment. Then we must maintain eye contact for at least 45 seconds because, as the legend goes, the eyes are the windows to the soul. Finally, I read your soul and find whom you are destined to marry. It takes years of training and practice to complete the qualifications to become a Matchmaker, but it's worth it."

"May we get started? I'm too excited to wait any longer!"

"Of course, if you'll just give me your hand?" As Grimhilde and the Matchmaker clasped hands, a flow of warmth spread from the Matchmaker to Grimhilde, causing her to shiver in delight. "Now, I need you to look at me. Henry, tell me when a minute has gone by, all right?"

"Of course, Em," Henry replied.

Grimhilde and the Matchmaker made eye contact. Grimhilde could tell immediately that something was wrong just by looking at the Matchmaker's grim and confused face. The Matchmaker's reaction completely confounded Henry. What could possibly be wrong?

Suddenly, the Matchmaker gasped and wrenched her hand from Grimhilde's grip. "Oh goodness me, this has never happened to me before," she muttered to herself.

"Miss Matchmaker what's wrong? Did something happen?" asked Grimhilde with the same confused expression on her face.

"Uh, well, I-I'm sorry to inform you that I could not find your soul mate. I have some theories, but they could be wrong."

"Please, Em, tell us your theories," begged Henry.

"Well, my first theory is that secretly you do not want to get married someday, that you would rather be alone, so subconsciously your soul is blocking me from finding your soul mate's name."

"That doesn't sound right to me," responded Grimhilde. "I've always wanted to get married."

"Well then, that's not it. Maybe, and it honestly hurts me to say this, but maybe, just maybe, your soul mate has already passed away, so your soul has given up on finding him, because it already knows that its perfect match is gone."

"That's dreadful!" exclaimed Henry.

"As I said, just a theory and my other theory is absurd. I don't even want to mention it for fear of sounding foolish!"

"Miss Matchmaker, please tell me. I want to hear all your theories. I would feel as though you were keeping an important secret from me if you did not tell me. Please, no matter how ridiculous the theory, I still want to hear it."

The Matchmaker sighed and hunched over, looking as though she had aged 10 years in the past few minutes. "Very well, then, but please do not become upset with me when I tell you. I would not want you to be angry when we part ways."

Henry shook his head and replied, "We could never become upset with you. You are only doing your job. Please Em tell us your other theory."

"Perhaps," started the Matchmaker slowly, "you're destined to become evil, cold, and heartless in the future, which tears your soul apart and does not allow you to rejoice with your soul mate. By the time you find each other, it would already be too late to save your ripped soul."

Grimhilde's eyes changed, turning from their normal bright blue, like a sunny sky, into a dark stormy blue, like waves on the ocean during a hurricane. "I believe our time is up, Miss Matchmaker. Your services are no longer needed."

"Grimhilde, what did we say about not becoming upset over this?" questioned Henry.

"I do not know what you are talking about Father."

"My Queen, you know as well as any of us, what I mean."

"I must be going," supplied the Matchmaker. She rested her hand lightly on Henry's forearm. "I am so very sorry, Henry. Please know that this was not my fault, nor my decision."

"I do not hold this against you, Em. You are as innocent as the rest of us."

"Thank you Henry. Good-bye Grimhilde." After casting a brief pitying glance toward the unhappy girl, she swept out of the room.

Grimhilde was never the same after her encounter with the Matchmaker. Her eyes never again brightened, she never again left to play in the woods or spend time with her animal friends. She stayed on the grounds of the estate, restraining her anger, pulling it deep inside until the time was right to let it go. No one ever called her Grimhilde again. She told her father that she despised that name, and asked him to call her Queen instead.

Her father, Henry, never stopped loving her. Even when she killed him, he knew that she loved him, and that was why she had to let him go. She needed him to make her happy, and so he gave his life for her, just as she wanted.

**A/N- I hope you enjoyed the chapter, and I hope I did a good job with the Evil Queen's point of view. I'm trusting Google on this one, and saying that her name was Grimhilde. Correct me if I'm wrong! Leave a review to let me know how I did! Also, I believe it is time for us to part ways until another character finds their perfect match on the show. And NO, I will not be doing the Huntsman OR Emma! We do not know who they end up with. Also, NO Emma is not the Matchmaker. The Matchmaker has graying hair, and is older and wiser than Emma. Hope you all had a great holiday! I bid you farewell, at least for awhile anyway. Bye-bye! Love you all!**


	6. Epilogue

Epilogue

When Soul Mates Meet

There were rumors about what it was like when you finally met your soul mate. It wasn't supposed to be awkward, terrifying, or embarrassing. It was supposed to be simple, easy, and overall, a fairy tale ending. Your soul mate would say your name, and you would melt into their embrace because you had been waiting for them your whole life. You had finally met the one fate had decided you should be with.

When you set your sights on that one person, you were just supposed to know that they were the one. No one ever understood WHY. What was the reason for being able to pick your soul mate out of a crowd of people only because you knew in the pit of your stomach that it was that person?

It's never that easy of course. You might think that you loved someone other than your soul mate, which would confuse every person in the three-sided relationship.

There's nothing easy about a relationship.

Some didn't get the point of knowing for whom they were destined. Shouldn't we get the chance to decide for ourselves whom we want to be with? Aren't we able to choose for ourselves without having a stranger tell us whom we have to be with?

The Matchmaker, however, doesn't tell you that you HAVE to be with them. She tells you whom you'll WANT to be with. You won't love them DESPITE their flaws. You'll love them BECAUSE of their flaws. You will complete one another.

Every couple argues, of course. There's nothing wrong with that. Sure, they'll be times when you'll think it won't work out, but it always does. Besides, it's healthy to argue. Being in a relationship where you agree on everything would be boring, pointless, and terrible. It means that you're scared that if you disagree on absolutely anything, the other will leave you alone and helpless.

Never give up hope. The one you are destined to be with, the one who will love you because of your flaws, not despite them, is out there. They're waiting for you, somewhere.

Never give up. Hope and love are the greatest gifts you can give to the world.

_** Fin**_

** Thank you, as always, to my amazing Beta, Tinian I'att, for her amazing way with words and her patience! Thanks so much for waiting patiently for this update. I know it doesn't have anything to do with the characters of the story, but there was no way to continue from this point. I hope you enjoyed this last chapter. Thank you for reading!**


End file.
